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How do we activate and amplify the voices within our communities to achieve racial justice in housing and make great places? How can communities establish housing as social and cultural infrastructure, housing that not only stabilizes but celebrates communities of color?

Mithun’s Casey Huang, Iveanette Santiago Rivera and Anne Torney will address these questions as part of “Racial Justice Case Studies: How Community Voices Create Just, Beautiful and Place-based Housing,” a pre-recorded 60-minute seminar available on-demand to attendees of the 48th Annual National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Conference throughout the proceedings, October 14-18, 2020. The session explores how grassroots organizing and advocacy, deep engagement on design and programming, and affirmative marketing plans played out on two innovative affordable housing projects—Liberty Bank Building in Seattle’s Central District and Balboa Park Upper Yard in San Francisco’s Outer Mission District—with a goal of demonstrating broader applicability for any community coping with rapid change. In these examples, community engagement translated into new permanently affordable housing projects that look, feel and operate differently.

The featured projects aim to shape a new, more equitable system that benefits the people and communities historically ostracized, disempowered and erased by the current land use, real estate development and political power systems of our country and cities. We want to share our successes and challenges with community development organizations, housing developers, advocates, and designers who share our goals, and push the industry to think more creatively.

Co-presenting Liberty Bank Building with Casey is Jaebadiah Gardner, managing partner of Onpoint Real Estate Services. Iveanette will be joined by Misssion Housing Development Corporation Project Developer Gail McGuire to discuss Balboa Park Upper Yard. Anne will moderate the panel discussion.

Date Posted: 10.14.2020